N64 Hong Kong machine RGB mod??

[geldra]

Hullo!

Just wondering if its worth getting my n64 modded to display RGB? I'm assuming that it doesnt do rgb as standard and that once the mod is done all i need is a scart lead? If anyone does the mod and lives London-way let me know the cost and stuff!

Ta!!

[charlesr]

Hi
I'm getting my N64 done this weekend in London at Saurian's. PM him (just press the PM button anywhere and change the name to Saurian).

[gIzzE]

What I would say is, if you TV can handle pure NTSC then get an S-video lead instead.
The n64 was never the greatest in RGB mode and even though the signal can be boosted it also boosts the noise in it too.

Most tvs dont actually give that much difference between RGB and S-Video anyway, (opened a can of worms by saying that I know) see if you can adjust colour and white level (contrast) on your tv while you are using an RGB source, if you can then the difference between RGB and S-video once the tv is calibrated to to give the same colour temp and white/black levels will probably be pretty much the same.

Anyone who is interested in the differences between composite, s-video, RGBs and component may find a post on the www.avforums.com by Nic Rhodes interesting reading.

it can be found here.

[Saurian]

gIzzE man thats not true.

The S Video picture from an N64 is awful. The internal mod I perform requires no RGB booster as increasing the voltage to certain pin of the video chip (bridging a nearby resistor) increases the RGB level outputted by the chip with no noise as a side effect.

The RGB mod using a booster circuit is poor I know - a proper mod makes S Video look silly. For games S Video is a very poor substitute to RGB, RGB is an analogue component signal (all signals are separate), S Video is still composite.

[gIzzE]

I did try to say it depends on your display device.

And I have to say that the results when you take the rgb straight off the VDC chip is not too bad, but, and there is a but, some devices handle s-video from the n64 far better than RGB. sometimes the signal is just too weak to have a nice snap to the image.

Saurian I respect the work you do and your love of a great image mate and was no way trying to knock you. sorry if you took offense I was just giving an opinion.
I modded hundreds of n64's when they were first released and after we had calls from cutomers saying that s-video was better than the rgb we tried as many different combinations as possible and on some display devices that is the case.

And S-video is not composite.

[dgnr7982]

And S-video is not composite.

It is on most video games systems - take apart an S-video lead and you will see its just one wire (composite) thats been wired to the four pins - not a true 4 pin signal.

[Saurian]

You can boost the RGB signal output of the chip as you like after bridging the point I mentioned, the signal can then by turned down as needed by adjusting the resistance on pin 24 of the VDC (aks like a contrast control - I say turned down cos it really is that strong (not like the weak RGB you normally get). The image is very bright (similar to the RGB you get from running arcade boards) - enough to give it the sharpness you'd expect from an RGB image.

Trust me man - I went through so many different methods, this works beautifully.

[Brats]

I can personally vouch for the RGB mod Saurian does on the N64. I got mine back the other day and got an RGB lead from VGI. Good god, the picture never looked anything like this good before! I've used the N64 via S-video on numerous TVs, but the RGB easily surpasses s-video by a huge margin.

I really mean this, it's like the difference between composite and RGB on other consoles. Clearly the s-video output from the N64 is shockingly bad because the improvement is startling. All of the usually fuzziness has gone and the image looks pin sharp now. I noticed the main difference on 2D games like Yuke Yuke Troublemakers where the sprites now look they are running on an CPS2 board rather than the fuzzy mess they were before.

Best ?20 I ever spent. Thanks Saur, you're a star .

BTW, isn't Nic Rhodes the keyboard player from Duran Duran .

[gIzzE]

Maybe I should send you down a spare n64 and see what you can do with it mate

[Tak]

I'm with Saur on this - the proper "link mod" provides a super bright signal with no booster circuit needed. The most common mod is the tapping of the signal off the chip with or without a booster circuit. This never gives a satisfactory bright picture.

I found the link mod done on a machine modded by CEX and Saurian experimented upon that and figured out how to get the brightest signal out of it.

There is really no alternative - get it done NOWWWWWWWw

[vertigo]

Mine has the 3 wire mod and it's still about a billion times better than the god-awful composite bleedorama and the S-Video that we tried. Just get it done, it's loads better. You can actually see what's going on, for a start. People have seen my N64 running and actually commented on the quality of the picture without prompting or knowing it was modded, they just said "hey, that looks like loads better quality than mine, how come?" Get it modded, you won't regret it.

[charlesr]

Well, having seen Saurian do the mod on Geldra's N64 at the weekend (tidy!), the results were excellent. Brilliant picture quality. Vibrant colours. Lush textures. So far better than the svideo cable I use on my N64 (which unfortunately can't be modded for rgb - gah!).